Installing Android x86 on a smartbook. Installing Android on a netbook

Is it possible to install Android on a netbook? Yes, it's possible. Moreover, this mobile operating system works amazingly well on any Windows device, including desktop computers. It's free, unlike Windows or Mac, and it's sleeker and easier to use than Linux.

Android is an OS aimed at smartphones and tablets and is a mobile operating system par excellence. Therefore, it may seem strange to have it on a laptop or netbook, but this does not mean that it is impossible. main reason The reason why Android often does not work on such devices is related to the hardware. Most netbooks and mini-laptops are powered by Intel or AMD processors, which are designed specifically to run on the x86 instruction set. Android, on the other hand, was designed with mobile device processors in mind using

However, recently devices with ports running on x86 have appeared, and some users may use Android OS as a secondary operating system on laptops. This is mainly done in order to have access to thousands of Android applications available only in the Android Market.

Android OS on a netbook or smartbook

There is a class of devices (very rarely used these days) called smartbooks. They were intended for Android launcher and other software open source and featured functionality associated with mobile devices: excellent connectivity, portability, long time battery life. All this was housed in one device, which cost much less than a netbook or laptop.

Smartbooks have been pushed out of the market by netbooks and tablets, but some models are still in use. In fact, they are and mainly contain applications specifically designed for smartphones and tablets. But, since they are quite rare today, you should figure out how to install Android on a netbook or laptop.

Convenience in functionality

It's worth noting that Android is designed to use less power than Windows. For this reason, it offers rather mediocre performance. The power of this shell is not designed for playing HD videos or games, but for browsing the web and working with entertainment applications she'll do just fine. According to user reviews, for a solution simple tasks this operating system is very convenient.

Ready netbook on the Android system

As already mentioned, the era of smartbooks is coming to an end. The most famous gadget with a mobile OS can be called Toshiba AC100 - a 10-inch netbook running on Android 2.2 and a Tegra-class processor. It is currently on sale and has 32 GB internal memory and 512 MB of RAM. In principle, with such indicators it can be used for simple work and entertainment. Its significant advantage is that it can work on a single charge for about 8 hours, and also comes with HDMI port. You should not try to use it for productive work, but for simple surfing the Internet and light games it is quite suitable.

Other manufacturers also produced whole line smartbooks. At the same time, the developers went a little aside and began making new generation devices. Yes, today you can find a Samsung netbook on Android, but this is already a transformer. At its core, it is a tablet that comes with a docking station and a keyboard. This device looks and works just like a netbook, which has received rave reviews from users.

Modern models even allow you to connect a mouse to a tablet, thereby creating an almost identical user experience.

However, to find such a Samsung or Asus netbook on Android, you will have to search for a very long time. As the reviews suggest, most people prefer to purchase either a tablet (which will have light touch input) or a netbook (which comes with a full-sized keyboard and will run a full-fledged “desktop” OS). However, given that the Android OS today is adapted to work with Intel processors or AMD, she can suggest a worthy alternative"Windows".

Can I install it myself?

Currently, you can install Android on a netbook by downloading and installing it as a second additional OS on your computer. This can be done using tools like unetbootin, which allow you to

To do this, take a 10-inch netbook ( Asus Eee PC is the most popular among them) and download any version of Android on it yourself.

As noted above, Android market is very big these days and most of the apps you prefer to use on mobile devices, will work exactly the same on your netbook. Of course, you will lose the opportunities available for touch screen, but at the same time you get a keyboard, touchpad, a large number of USB ports and slot for microSD cards. This sounds very attractive, so if you have a netbook, it's definitely worth trying to install Android on it. How to do this?

Download "Android" to your main computer

The first thing you need to do is visit the page Android downloads x86 and select the correct ISO file to download. New versions are at the bottom of the list. This article provides an example with version 4.0. It can be found in the section called “Android platforms x86-4.0-RC1” You will be offered several various options, so try to choose the most suitable one for you. For example, there is an option “netbook ASUS Eee PC family”, which will be recommended for netbooks of this brand. The installation process is easy and not very lengthy, so don't be afraid to try installing a different ISO later if the first one doesn't work. Just download the file on whatever computer you're using - the device doesn't have to be the same one you want to install Android on.

Copy ISO file to USB drive

Once you have the downloaded ISO image, you will need to transfer it to your netbook. Since most gadgets do not support CDs, the most The best way- download a tool called Unetbootin Help. After downloading it, simply run the file and you will see a screen with the program's interface.

Click on the three dots button on the right side of the window and select ISO file, which you downloaded. Then select the drive you want to copy the ISO to. Wait for all the information to download to the USB drive you selected. Make sure you copy everything you want to keep!

Once the download is complete, click OK. A pop-up window will appear briefly showing a horizontal bar of the file being downloaded, and then once the operation is complete you will be informed and asked if you want to restart your computer. Click "no" and remove the USB drive.

Prepare the netbook for installation

Now that you have saved the ISO file to USB, you are almost ready for the process of installing Android on your netbook. If you have any files on your hard drive that you would hate to lose (such as photos, documents or videos), be sure to save them on a flash drive. Even though data other than boot disks should be saved, there is always a risk that something will go wrong, so it is better to take all safety precautions.

Connect the USB drive to your netbook. You will need to press one key (most likely Delete or one of the F keys, i.e. F1) to select the device from which to boot. Here you need to select a USB drive from the list. If you are unable to get to boot menu, you will need to go into the BIOS and change the boot order - set it to one in which the USB drive will be displayed before any other device. After this, you can directly proceed with the steps of how to install Android.

Set boot process

Once you have set your boot order and inserted the USB, you can boot the installer from graphical interface for Android for x86. This menu will give you the option to download Android 4.0 directly without installation, and you can try using this OS right away. However, if you want to install a mobile operating system on permanent basis, this step is optional.

At this stage, you will have to select the disk where Android will be installed on the netbook - you can select any partition in ext3/ext2 (Linux) or NTFS/FAT32 (for Windows). You shouldn't format (or even wipe) the drive you install the shell on, but it's still worth saving backups files.

Once you have selected the drive, you will be asked to select the partition size to install. Move forward through the menu and choose maximum size(which is usually 2048 MB). This will take some time, depending on the speed of your hard drive. You will also be able to create a virtual SD card at this time, and after that you will be prompted to restart your computer. Do this and don't forget to take it out USB disk when the netbook turns off.

Direct installation process

Now you should download the installed Android OS onto your netbook. Select the first item in the boot menu and your netbook will start working on Android based. Initially you will see white text on a black background followed by a glowing Android logo, and then finally the OS itself will load and display a screen that says “Welcome”. You will be prompted to connect to wireless network, login to your account Google entry, and some other basic questions will also become available (about the current time, and so on). After entering these parameters, the download is complete and you finally get to work Android desktop. The model of your gadget does not matter at all - Android is installed on an Asus netbook in the same way as on a Samsung, Acer, and so on.

Settings and options "Android"

After the shell is downloaded and functioning on your device, you should deal with it and install several unique useful applications. Such services are constantly updated and supplemented, so stay tuned for news.

Of course, a netbook doesn't have a touch screen, but Android still supports touch panels, keyboard and via USB connections. Once you install Android on your netbook, you can use docking stations and add-ons at your own discretion - restrictions may be imposed solely by the features of your device. What other benefits can you find?

Financial benefits and no licenses

Everyone knows that Microsoft requires hefty licensing fees for the use of its operating system. Windows systems, while Google doesn't offer any fees for Android. Operating on Android will help you save on both your own maintenance and the downloading of various programs.

Screen appearance and interface

Getting used to the interface may take some time for those who are used to working on Windows all the time. We can say that this is one of the main reasons why many are in no hurry to change the OS on their device. Currently, Android is actively developing, and every a new version looks more beautiful and pleasant, which cannot go unnoticed. Google is trying to withstand competition and therefore is constantly looking for new advantages over Microsoft. Of course, today it is too early to talk about complete victory in this fight, but some prerequisites for success are evident.

Easy to use

Netbooks are designed primarily for small and short-term work, so a simple OS is much better and more harmonious. Windows can be difficult to use, requires constant updates, and some features are completely useless for users who just want to surf the web and write messages. e-mail. Usually, high functionality and greater capabilities are required to operate stationary large devices.

In turn, the Android OS on a netbook, reviews of which speak of its convenience, can simplify computing process thanks to a simple user interface and online applications (for example, Google Docs). Google services were practically created in order to be simple working tools and gain popularity among ordinary users. An additional bonus is the large number of games available completely free of charge.

Today we will talk about how to install android on laptop or netbook. This topic will be of interest to all fans of this lightweight operating system from Google, which was developed specifically for compact devices. So I was interested in the question: “Can I use free android on his own outdated laptop, with the same success as on a smartphone? It turns out that this is quite possible! I have already written about , another free product from Google, although that article talks about installation in the VirtualBox environment. As previously stated, in the future Android and Chrome OS Google company can be combined into a single operating system, but for now these are only plans.

I think there is no need to talk at length about popularity Android smartphones and tablets in the mobile device market. About competition with the operating room iOS system, preinstalled on mobile iPhone devices and the iPad of the famous Apple corporation. Such information is considered banal nowadays, everyone knows about it! Well, okay, especially for those who still don’t know, I’ll give you some statistics :-) The Kantar company has released a report that describes the behavior of the market mobile industry in various countries of the world. According to these latest statistics (2014) on the distribution of operating systems in the world, Android is the leader in all countries, albeit with different percentages. The issue of android leadership is not even discussed in this report. But before 2013 there were slightly different statistics:

Platform	2007	2008	2009	2011	2012	2013
Nokia (Symbian OS)	62,3 %	52,4 %	47,2 %	20,9 %	2,4 %	-
BlackBerry (BlackBerry OS)	10,9 %	16,5 %	20,8 %	14,9 %	5,3 %	2 %
Apple(iOS)	5,2 %	9,6 %	15,1 %	15,7 %	13,9 %	14 %
Microsoft (windows mob, phone)	11,9 %	13,9 %	8,8 %	5,5 %	2,4 %	4 %
Google (Android)	-	0,5 %	4,7 %	39,5 %	72,4 %	80 %
Samsung (Bada)	-	-	0,1 %	1,9 %	3,0 %	-
Others (Linux, Palm OS)	9,6 %	7,2 %	3,4 %	3,5 %	0,97 %	0,3 %

The main feature of Android is that it is free and belongs to the category of open software, which means that this operating system can be freely downloaded and installed on any compatible device. It is also absolutely legal to download and install any modifications of this operating system on your device. And the most interesting thing is that we don’t have to buy a smartphone to get acquainted with Android; this system can even be installed on a netbook or laptop.

Instructions for installing Android on a laptop or netbook

Installation usually requires Android image Live CD or Live USB, which can be written to a disk or flash drive. Next, we will mean creating a Live CD. From such a “live” disk you can boot and try the system without installing it on a computer, in our case a laptop or netbook. You can also install the system from the same disk.

We go to the Android-x86 Project website. This is one of the Android builds ported to any computer with an x86 processor architecture.
On the site we need to download the ISO file - image installation disk With latest version systems on board.
Save downloaded ISO image to disk using the program Ultra ISO or any other for burning images to disk.
We place the recorded disc in the CD/DVD drive of the laptop, and in the case of a netbook, in external drive, set the parameters in SETUP/BIOS to boot the computer from our disk and start the system.
During the system startup process, we will see a boot menu with several options, the first item is to launch Android on the computer without installation, and the last one is to directly install this operating system on HDD laptop or netbook.

How to make bootable Android Live USB?

We must admit that the era of CD/DVD disks has passed; it is much more convenient to use a flash drive for installation new system However, I would recommend a slightly different way to create such a bootable USB flash drive.

Download android-x86-4.3-20130725.iso from this link
Download and install LinuxLive USB Creator (LiLi) from this site
In the program itself, first select a flash drive pre-formatted in FAT32.
Then select the downloaded image boot disk, or simply an ISO file.
We skip the third point.
Leave the “Allow LinuxLive USB to run on Windows” checkbox if you don’t want LiLi to download and install on a VirtualBox flash drive.
In the fifth point, click on the lightning bolt and wait for the program to create a bootable USB.
We perform the following steps by analogy with points 4-5 of the previous instructions.

But remember, no one is immune from the lack of full hardware support for your particular laptop or netbook model. For example, the system may not work correctly with the integrated Wi-Fi device adapter. Individual problems can be fixed by installing a patch, but if your configuration is not widespread and not popular among the general public, then finding a solution on the Internet will be much more difficult.

That's all, I hope you find my instructions useful! Subscribe to the blog, add to in social networks, I’ll be glad to chat in the comments!

How to install Android on a laptop or netbook? was last modified: March 3rd, 2016 by Admin

Hi all. In today's article I want to tell you about how to install Android on a netbook, laptop or PC. We will look at the Android installation process using my example. Asus netbook Eee PC 1015BX. Since the architecture of many netbooks is similar to the architecture of tablets and smartphones, I think no one will argue that the most suitable look PC for android is a netbook. Moreover, the majority of netbooks do not shine with performance and the Android operating system comes in handy here. So, enough idle talk, let's move on to installing the Android OS.

To install the Android operating system on a netbook, we need a flash drive with a capacity of 256 MB or more. To create a boot area on a flash drive, we will use the Unetbootin program. You can download the program from link . The process of creating a bootable USB flash drive is not very different from and just as simple.

Since most new applications are developed for Android 4.0, then, of course, my choice fell on this version. Although there are rumors that more stable version for netbooks is Android 2.2. Download Android for different architectures possible by link .

Since I have an Asus Eee Pc, I downloaded the image “android-x86-4.0-RC2-eeepc.iso”.

To download the image, you need to click on the word “View”, under the version suitable for your netbook.

After the image is downloaded, we proceed to creating a bootable Android flash drive.

To do this, launch the Unetbootin program.

Place a checkmark next to “Disk image”.

Then select the downloaded Android image.

After completing all procedures, click the “Exit” button

All. The bootable USB flash drive with the Android operating system is ready. Now let's move on to testing and installing Android on a netbook.

Installing Android on a netbook

In order for the netbook to start booting from the flash drive, we need to hold down the ESC key when turning on the netbook. After the disk selection window appears, select the flash drive and press Enter.

After this, a menu for selecting operations with Android will appear

In the menu you can select to boot Android into RAM. This option is very good because before installation you can test the system on the hardware of your netbook.

To load Android into RAM, select “Run Android-x86 without installation”.

To install Android on the netbook’s hard drive, you must select “Install Android-x86 to harddisk”

After selecting an option, after a few seconds the screen will display inscription Android, which will indicate that everything was done correctly.

When you first launch, you will be asked to select a language and sign in to your Google profile.

After this, the Android desktop will appear.

By clicking on the icon in the upper right corner, we are taken to the operating system menu.

By default we are offered big choice basic applications and games for every taste.

General impressions of using Android on the netbook are positive. Everything works very quickly and without problems. The only drawback for me was the lack of support for connecting to the Internet via the built-in network card, via a cable to the RJ45 connector. Android supports connecting to the Internet only via Wi-Fi. Although for some it will not be as critical as for me.

That's all. Now you, like me, know how to install Android on a netbook.

P.S. I apologize for the quality of the photos. The camera is not the best :)

Thank you for your attention.

Subscribe to our blog news.

Best regards, Oleg Smetanin

Let's imagine that you have come to the conclusion: you simply need the Android operating system on your computer, be it a desktop PC, laptop or netbook. I think you understand that today we will discuss how to install Android on a computer. The need for Android on, say, devices not intended for it, can be due to many factors:

The “bank” of applications on Android includes an incredible number of programs for any area of life and activity, be it business, sports, hobbies electronic cigarettes or jogging - for everything there are a dozen or two, or even a good hundred applications of varying degrees of convenience. And despite the fact that the most popular Windows OS is older and has already acquired a sufficient amount of software, in some aspects Android wins. In addition, for the latest OS there are more offers in the free software niche, which cannot but please users.
You have an insufficiently powerful netbook that is pointless to sell, it would be a pity to send it to scrap, and it is useless to install Windows, since it will work very slowly. Moreover, programs are now being developed that weak computer they just don't pull it off. The Android system is less demanding on device resources. Even the most simple smartphones They work very well with the Android system.
There is an application (most often a game) on Android, which has no analogue for Windows, why not install Android on your PC as a second OS. By the way, it is not necessary to install the OS; you can run it on your computer in Live mode. I will talk about this below.
The level of data synchronization in Android OS is excellent. Contacts, calendar data, tasks and much more - it will be very easy to “make friends” with your Android PC.
Viruses and malware not on Android OS. All the “malware” that exists for Android, the most they can do is send paid SMS message. But we install the OS on a PC, which means that the ability for scammers to steal money from us via SMS is simply physically absent, since very rarely a PC is equipped with a GSM module.

Should I choose an emulator, installation or LiveCD?

So, the decision has been made - you need Android on your computer. How to install it? To begin with, I suggest you decide which format for using Android OS on a PC is most suitable for you. Here are three options you can use:

Android emulator. The most “safe”, if you look at it from the perspective of the average user. There is no need to go into the BIOS and shake for fear of accidentally destroying the system. Everything is quite simple: install the application, launch it, and you’re done. Disadvantages of this solution: all currently available and more or less passable emulators are demanding on computer resources; you will need to allocate the resources of your computer for everything to work as it should. After all, running another operating system inside Windows OS means an additional load on the RAM and processor. You should also take into account that you must allocate space on your hard drive for the new system. Suitable for powerful PCs.
Running Android in LiveCD mode. Something in between the first and third options, does not require installation. A fairly simple launch algorithm. The PC is not demanding on resources, as I said earlier. Negative side: Every time you start you get a “one-time” operating system, all data and settings of which are erased when you reboot. Therefore, this option is suitable, for example, for a one-time check of an application. For regular use, the third option is suitable.
Installation of a full Android OS. The leader of all three options in terms of reliability. It doesn't require much in terms of resources, but the only thing additionally required is some hard drive space for installation. I am not picky about the speed of a computer or laptop - the device must be no weaker regular smartphone(that is, any weak netbook will do). Perfect solution for permanent use of the Android OS as the main or additional operating system (for example, along with Windows).

Android Emulator

Installing Android emulators will not be discussed in detail in this article. Firstly, due to some inferiority of each of them (somewhere there may be problems in setting up manipulators, in others there may be “jambs” in the operation of graphics in applications). Secondly, if you really want to try this option, installing the emulator should not be any difficulties - it is no more difficult than installing any other application under Windows.

I can only list some emulators that you can pay attention to due to their fairly simple installation and relatively decent performance: Droid4x, Bluestacks and Genymotion. By own experience I can also say that the first one was suitable for my purposes, but I will make a reservation that I had specific goals.

To help users who decide to use emulators a little, I decided to add a video that will help you understand the installation principles:

How to download Android installation file

You can download here different versions Android, for example, version 5.1 or 6. Here I cannot tell you which version is better to choose, since I don’t know why it is needed. Of course, you can test 2 versions and then make a decision. The site presents images (archives) of two types - .iso and .img; I will explain their differences a little later. To download a particular file from the site, click on “View”. After this, the file will begin downloading. I recommend downloading versions in iso files.

By the way, at the end of the article I will tell you about another version of Android that may suit your needs.

Creating a Bootable Android USB Flash Drive

In order to run Android on a PC, we need a boot disk. The era of CDs is ending, so I’ll tell you how to make a bootable USB flash drive. To create a bootable USB flash drive from an iso image (file), you can use Rufus program. If you do not have this program, here is a link to the official website where you can download it.

The program is simple, download it, run it, and see the program window. In the window we put following parameters(the picture with the settings is below):

“Device” - select our flash drive, which will act as a boot drive.

"Partition scheme and type system interface“—we leave it as is.
"File system" - FAT
"Cluster size" - default.
“New volume label” - it doesn’t matter what you name your disk.

Specify the remaining parameters as in the screenshot above. And of course, you need to indicate the image that you will download from the site, the link to it was given above. To do this, click on the disk icon, which is located to the right of the inscription “Creating a bootable USB flash drive.” Now click on the “Start” button to start creating the flash drive.

After that, select “Burn in ISO image mode (Recommended).” Next, the program will remind you that all files will be deleted from the flash drive, but you already know this and so just click “OK”.

Now we just have to wait for the final result.

Another option for creating a bootable USB flash drive is using the UNetbootin program. Download the program and run it (the flash drive must already be connected to the PC). Select “Disk Image”, click on “…” and indicate the downloaded distribution. In the “Media” drop-down list, you need to select your flash drive. Click “OK”, and when finished click “Exit”.

Well, I’m sure you didn’t have any difficulties, so here you go bootable flash drive ready.

A little about the image with the img extension. In the case of EFI boot, use the Win32 Disk Imager program to create a bootable USB flash drive. Its interface is no more complicated than Rufus's, so you can handle it.

Booting Android OS from a USB flash drive

First, you need to set the BIOS to boot from a flash drive. This is done simply - just go to the BIOS (when turning on the PC at the very beginning, press the "Del", "F2" or "Esc" key) - after which the BIOS will open with settings. BIOS versions may vary, we need to find the “Boot” section at the top (maybe on the left or right) - “Boot Device Priority”, and set the value to “First” boot device"(the device from which you need to boot first) select the USB flash drive.

Typically, moving to Bios is done with the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys. The mouse rarely works in Bios, so all actions there must be performed using keys. In one of my articles, I talked about how to set the BIOS to boot from disk. This information will be very useful to you if you have not previously configured the BIOS. I’ll note that I’m talking there about how to set up booting from a disk, but you need to select a flash drive instead of a disk.

Then exit the BIOS and save the changes (“Save and exit” - “Yes”). Almost all BIOS versions– the F10 button is used to save settings. We reboot the PC, the bootable flash drive should be in one of the USB ports of the laptop or computer.

Download Android without installation

After a few seconds of loading we will see the following menu:

Attention: If the boot does not occur, it means that you have not configured the settings in the BIOS so that you can boot from a flash drive. I will describe everything step by step now, but you must understand that in this moment The installation is as it is, but after, for example, 6 months, it may be slightly different. In any case, the steps that I will describe will be useful to you so that you understand what needs to be done and where.

As you can see, you can either install the OS or run it in LiveCD mode. We are now interested last option, select the appropriate line – “Run Android-x86 without installation”.

As a result of the download, a language selection will first appear (the language selection is done using the arrows on the keyboard, after selecting, click on the yellow arrow to go to the next menu):

And then there will be the initial settings of the Android OS. There is no point in going into too much detail and setting it up, since, let me remind you, starting the OS in LiveCD mode stores all the settings until a reboot.

Then you will be asked to connect to Wi-Fi:

You can specify your Google account if required, or click “Skip”:

Then they will write to you what this account is needed for:

You can set the date and time or click “Next”:

In the next window you can enter your data, I click “Next”:

After specifying all the settings, you will have a completely real Android OS in your hands, with which you can do whatever you want. Experiment and check functionality, install applications. By the way, it is worth noting that by default the services Google Play not installed.

Preparing a disk partition for Android

If you need to install Android on your computer, you will first need to partition your disk to make room for the new system. Windows has a built-in tool for managing disk partitions. To launch it, press “Win” + “R”, write “diskmgmt.msc” and click “OK”.

In the window you need to select the drive from which you want to take space for the Android system. In other words, you need to create a disk on which you want to install the system. There is an article on the site that explains in detail how to do this in Windows 7: "". But this article also relevant for others Windows versions: 10 and 8.1. Therefore, follow the link and study the article. Now I will describe this procedure for Windows 10. Select the disk that you want to divide into parts and click on it right click mice. After this, select “Shrink volume” (you will have to wait a little while the system performs the analysis):

In the next window, in the “MB compressible space size” field, you must indicate the size that you are allocating for your new disk. For example, you can specify "10000". Now click "Compress".

After a while, on the right side you will see an area of the disk that is not allocated. Press this part right-click and select “Create simple volume...”. Then a window will open where you need to specify the disk parameters and then click “Next”. And in just a couple of minutes you will have a disk ready on which you can install the necessary system.

IMPORTANT: to install Android OS you will need a partition of approximately 10 GB in size. If you have a disk that doesn't have necessary information or it is empty, right-click on it and select the “Delete volume” line. After this, the entire volume of the disk will become unsold, from which you can make a partition for the Android OS - Alternative option, with which you can create a disk for Android. But I recommend using another method, which is described just above. Let me remind you that I provided a link to an article where I described this process in detail.

You can also use programs to work with hard drives, for example Acronis Disk Director and others.

Installing Android OS from a USB flash drive

If, when starting the PC, you select “Install Android-x86 to harddisk” in the bootable flash drive menu, a full installation of the operating system will start.

IMPORTANT: if the PC is “clean”, everything necessary files saved, and Android will act as the main operating system, then you can continue with a clear conscience. If you plan to install Android as an additional OS, then you first need to allocate a disk partition for it. How to do this is described above. If the partition for Android has been created, we can now continue the installation from the flash drive.

Next we will see an installation proposal GRUB bootloader. You will need it if, in addition to Android, other operating systems are installed on your PC, for example, Windows. We answer (“YES” - “Yes”, “Skip” - “Skip”) and move on.

If other OSes are installed, the program will notify us about this in the next step, and will also clarify whether to add them to the boot menu. We select “Yes” if we need the ability to launch them from time to time, and “No” if we plan to use only Android and do not want to clutter the boot menu with unnecessary OSes.

After this, the long-awaited installation of Android-x86 will finally begin. When it is finished, you will see the Android OS launch menu, in which you can immediately select to start the OS or restart the computer or select the operating system from the list.

Congratulations, a full-fledged Android OS is installed on your PC. I'm sure with initial settings you can handle the system without any problems.

Advanced version of Android – Remix OS for PC

There is another option for using Android on your computer - Remix OS. This operating system is based on Android OS, but is more advanced. It was released at the beginning of 2016, and is a kind of Android OS with the habits of Windows functionality: Multi-window interface with the ability to minimize windows, taskbar and start menu, and similar to Windows area notifications. In addition, it is more adapted for use on PC compared to Android-x86.

The process of creating a bootable flash drive with Remix OS on board is no different from writing an Android-x86 image to a flash drive. After booting from the newly created flash drive, we will be greeted by a similar menu where we can choose to install the OS on the hard drive (“Resident mode”) or boot in LiveCD mode (“Guest mode”).

You can download the distribution kit for creating a bootable USB flash drive for Remix OS using the link: . By the way, a utility for creating bootable disks is also available there.

To summarize, I will say that installing Android on a PC is not difficult, you just need to follow the instructions outlined above. Easy installation and pleasant use of the new operating system.

Video that will show how to install Android on a computer or laptop:

Installing the Android operating system on a netbook is a completely logical and reasonable decision in the context of development cloud technologies and corresponding trends. The very idea of an inexpensive device, the main purpose of which is to provide access to the Internet, determines its key characteristics:

absence of a hard disk drive in its traditional representation, device external memory implemented either on external memory cards or on solid state drives data;
lack of an optical drive, a device for reading data from CD or DVD discs;
small screen size (within 12 inches);
light weight and low power consumption compared to similar devices;
relatively low price.

Based on purpose modern gadgets, Android Inc has developed a specific operating system based on the UNXI kernel. Google subsequently purchased this solution and is currently supporting it on different platforms. Based on open source the operating system turned out to be very successful and easily adaptable to the needs of smartphones, tablet computers, televisions and other household and industrial devices. It is openness source code and created by the company Google special libraries made it possible to create in a short time great amount all kinds of custom and system programs for android devices.

At the end of last year, 90% of gadgets sold ran this operating system.

Cloud technologies

An important factor in the popularization of Android as an operating system was the company's development Google services, largely replacing Microsoft programs Office. Now the user does not necessarily have to have applications on his device that allow him to create and edit texts or work with spreadsheets and databases. You can process and catalog images, conduct correspondence and exchange data of any nature in on-line mode; for this, your computer only needs a modern Internet browser. By the way, Google takes responsibility for the safety of your data.

The development of cloud technologies and services implies an increase in the capacity of access channels in global network, but this is facilitated by the popularization wifi access and development of 3G/4G technologies. Thus, a netbook, originally created exclusively for web surfing, with the development of cloud technologies turns into a full-fledged personal computer.

Installing Android on a netbook is completely logical and justified. Android as an operating system is completely free software product, and this factor can be decisive when choosing netbook software.

Installing the OS on a netbook

Let's take a closer look at how to install Android on a netbook. First, you need to understand whether this operating system will even work on the selected device. If yes, then we perform the actions in the following sequence:

Installing android starts with choosing the most suitable version, corresponding to the target device on a specialized site. File iso format is an operating system boot disk image.
Since the netbook does not have optical drive, then you need to emulate it by placing the operating system image on a USB flash drive. The image size is about 500 MB, i.e. the drive needs an appropriate size. Let's format this flash drive using standard applications netbook.
Let's do it USB drive bootable and transfer the operating system image to it android systems, which was copied from the project website. Suitable for this UNetbootin program or something similar.
After a bootable USB flash drive has been created, you need to indicate to the netbook that it will boot from USB devices. This is done by the appropriate BIOS settings.
We reboot the netbook, if everything went well, we will be taken to the boot menu, which will offer to either install the system on the selected disk partition, or boot without installation (trial mode).

We start using the trial mode by setting up the device. It is important to remember that due to the fact that the download occurred with external storage, all settings made will not be saved after the device is turned off. You will need to do:

setting the system language;
keyboard settings (mechanism for switching between Russian and English layouts different from the traditional one);
setting up access to the network, you will need to specify the settings for connecting to the Internet via wifi (encryption method, network name, password);
registration in cloud storage Google, if there is no corresponding account, you will have to go through the registration process;
final stage trial setup is to install an application from the Play Market.

If everything went smoothly in the trial mode, the system works stably, you have full access to your Google account, All required applications start and work, you can proceed to the full installation of the Android operating system on the device. The procedure is similar to starting trial system: reboot the netbook, select Installation (Install Android-x86 to harddisk). It is very important here to correctly determine physical device, on which the Android system will be installed.

The most flexible solution is to create a multiboot disk, which allows you to use a netbook running different operating systems depending on the situation.